Arts & Events

Moo Deng is Kissing Donald Trump: How Did We Get Here?

A collection of vintage U.S. presidential masks for Halloween, including Mr. Peanut. Photo: Brecht Bug, used under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

By Max Orr

  Halloween has already come and gone, but this year saw yet another batch of trendy costumes. It appears a uniquely American urge to signal our cultural literacy to our peers through the costumes we choose to don at parties. Popular themes are internet memes, popular culture and the ever-present political commentary. 2024 offered a vast supply of material for the pleasure of Halloween partygoers. After scouring magazines and online publications for listicles, digging through Instagram for influencer endorsements and searching among my own peers, I noticed an interesting trend leaning toward an awkward juxtaposition of politicians and pop culture references. Why are Donald Trump and Hawk Tuah dancing together, and how did this become so normalized?   

  Throughout the years, countless memes have been adapted into outfits for the big night; this year was no exception. Beloved Thai pygmy hippo Moo Deng was a constant on every list I found, as was Pesto the overgrown, Australian penguin chick. The pair took the internet by storm earlier this year, and it seems they did the same at Halloween parties. Spirit Halloween went viral for their decision to adapt the TikTok sensation ‘Hawk Tuah’ into a costume sold in their stores nationwide. However, it seems they were hesitant to embrace the spirit of the phrase. The costume consists of a jumpsuit adorned with a label reading “Hawk Tuah, Express Lubricant Experts.” The innuendo is just appropriate enough to be sold in the retail context, yet signals the wearer’s knowledge of internet culture to the eagle-eyed. Meme reference costumes are a surefire way to signal to your peers: ‘I’m with the times, I know what’s funny.’ 

  The 2024 Summer Olympics also inspired many a costume. Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn has had her unfortunate performance immortalized in costume while American Stephen Nedoroscik, also known as ‘Pommel Horse Guy,’ also made several appearances on the lists consulted.

 As happens during every election year, this year’s candidates found their way into every article Donald Trump made his third appearance in Spirit Halloween mask form. While I could not find a similar one of Kamala Harris. Joe Biden, however, despite not being on the ticket, faced his fair share of mask mockery. Perhaps this difference is due to Harris’ late entry into the race, but it could also be seen as a preventative measure; in the 2008 election of Barack Obama, many nonblack Halloween-goers donned Obama masks in order to mock the then-presidential candidate. By excluding Harris masks from the Spirit Halloween lineup, the company may have been preemptively avoiding similar pitfalls.

  Political costumes have become ever-present on Halloween night. This may be due to the proximity of Halloween to the November election date or the pervasiveness of politics in the American cultural mind. Some take the holiday as an opportunity to endorse their favored candidate, while others view it as an opportunity to mock the opposing candidate. Because of this, their appearances can be misleading. The appearance of political costumes alongside other references to American pop culture signals the way politics has integrated into the cultural zeitgeist. The American news cycle makes politics a constant in the average citizen’s mind, which turns politics into something like a TV show or internet sensation. Political figures become fictional characters in our minds, and it seems logical to place them on a list of possible DIY costumes alongside references to popular movies and memes from the year. 

  American politics has become inseparable from pop culture. Politicians populate our TV screens and TikTok pages just as much as the latest clothing trends or memes. They have become fair game for ridicule and praise through costume format and make an inevitable appearance at every Halloween party. Hawk Tuah, Moo Deng and the presidential ticket have become one and the same in many Americans’ minds. The enmeshing of American politics into pop culture introduces questions that I and many others don’t have the answer to. When politics becomes entertainment, how do we recognize its very real effect on our lives? Memes and internet culture lose influence, but politicians and the laws they enact often don’t.